In space thermal environment, satellites are exposed to multiple heat sources which can deteriorate structural and equipment integrity over long periods of time. Normally radiators are used to release heat, but due to space and weight constraints, it is impossible to mount radiators on small satellites. This problem signifies the importance of thermal analysis of a satellite in every development stage, such as design, manufacturing and testing. The ultimate goal of this work is to analyze a small spacecraft in space thermal environment by considering the effect of various heat sources. Thermal equilibrium equation is achieved which is applied to spacecraft with different shapes and dimensions and temperature is measured for a range of absorption coefficient values (i.e. 0.5 ~ 0.9). Through an experimental setup a method is devised to measure the absorption coefficient of small satellites that can be used for exact temperature measurement. Secondly, the paper presents a preliminary analysis of induced spin produced by small satellites due to asymmetrical colors (different absorptance) of satellite outer surface. The substantial contributors for induced spin are considered and the estimated spin is measured. INDEX TERMS Satellites, Thermal analysis, Temperature, Absorption. I. INTRODUCTION Recently, there is a great emphasis on the development of small satellites by universities and SMEs (small and medium enterprisers) because they are simple, cheaper and easy to launch [1, 2]. In this regard, the first NanoSatellite was developed in 1999 by California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) in collaboration with Stanford University, called CubeSat with dimensions 10 × 10 × 10 cm 3 [3, 4]. This provided a new research area to universities and SMEs worldwide in the field of small satellites. Department of Electronics and Telecommunication (DET) at Politecnico di Torino is also working on a comprehensive NanoSatellite project called AraMiS [5], designing small satellites for Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The design process of AraMiS is based on the concept of tiles [6] and modules. The tiles and modules have different dimensions and technology to achieve any desired satellite structure. These modules can be reused for multiple missions that help in significant reduction of the overall budget, design,